Why Has Taiwan’s Dollar Soared in Value, and Who Benefits?

Taiwan’s currency jumped 6.2% against the US dollar over two days at the start of May, an almost unprecedented move given the island’s normally stable exchange rates.

The fluctuation spurred a flurry of activity in Taiwan’s stock market, sent ripples across global foreign-exchange markets and helped to weaken the US dollar versus currencies across Asia, with the volume of US dollar-Taiwan dollar trades in Taipei increasing to levels not seen in more than 15 years.